


Scar Tissue

by TheGreatCatsby



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: characters mentioned in passing including kimi and hide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 21:22:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3355706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatCatsby/pseuds/TheGreatCatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haise knows he shouldn't be here, but when they bring Serpent in, he finds himself standing over the examination table while CCG scientists take notes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scar Tissue

Haise knows he shouldn't be here, but when they bring Serpent in, he finds himself standing over the examination table while CCG scientists take notes. 

Serpent, whose real name is Nishiki, has several prominent scars. Most of them are located on his torso. Three puncture scars on his chest and stomach. Another, in the middle of his stomach. His left eye has a scar as well. 

“I like this name you've given me,” Nishiki says, a bit subdued. They've suppressed his RC cells. He hasn't eaten in a while, because of one of those injuries. “Serpent. Heh.” He glances up at Haise, who looks away. 

He's familiar. And the last time Haise saw him, he lost himself. 

Haise turns to walk away, and he hears Nishiki say, “Can you bring my glasses?” 

He ignores him and continues walking. 

*

He shouldn't visit him, but he does. 

Nishiki is like a drip-feed of information, and Haise wonders if he's doing it on purpose, never telling him much, just enough to keep him coming back. 

“I went to Kamii. Was a good student. It's funny how being a ghoul disrupts your life, right?” 

Kamii. A nice spring day, outside, reading a book. He can't see the words, can't remember the title, but he likes books. He must have liked books before. 

“I had a girlfriend,” Nishiki says another time. “Human. She knew I was a ghoul. I left her for her own safety.” A sigh. “I bit her on the shoulder, once, because she wanted to save my life. It was stupid of her.” He says the last sentence like most people might say “I loved her.” 

He smiles, and it's the first time Haise has seen him genuinely do so. It's wistful. 

Haise assumes that Nishiki is also giving the CCG valuable information, also drip-feeding it to them. He seems bored. He likes to talk to Haise. But only to a certain point. Their visits usually only last half an hour. 

“I can see it in your eyes,” Nishiki says one day, “when I say something and it hits a nerve. You go blank.” 

“Memories, sort of,” Haise tells him. It's just scratching the surface. 

*

“You know when you impaled me, a few months ago? Wasn't the first time.” Shouting, a dark alley, a flash of blond hair. 

“I tried to kill you. Twice.” The strong smell of human, mouth-wateringly delicious as his stomach aches with hunger and twists in revulsion. He's starving. 

“You had a friend. Best friend. I tried to kill him, too.” Blond hair again. Why can't he remember? Blond hair and a bright smile. Bags of food, his favorite. Anger, at Nishiki. Not just anger, fury. He needs to protect--

“Why did you try to kill him?” Haise asks. 

“I'm not a nice person,” Nishiki says. “And you were in my territory. I didn't want that taken from me, too.” 

Haise doesn't know what that means. He doesn't ask more, and Nishiki doesn't elaborate. 

*

Akira seems on edge today. 

“What happened?” Haise asks, looking over her shoulder. 

“Another woman, killed,” Akira says. 

The file has a picture of the body, half of it gone. Eaten. 

“We don't know who's responsible,” Akira says. “But this isn't part of your investigations.” 

The name on the file is Nishino, Kimi. Her upper body is intact. There's a scar on her shoulder, angry and ragged. “Who was she?” 

“Just some unlucky girl.” 

That night, Haise dreams of a church and a woman bound on an altar, of a man in fancy clothing stabbing Nishiki. Of an angel with purple hair and blood red wings made of fire and glass. 

Nishiki slumped over the altar, blood everywhere, holding the woman's hand, unconscious and broken but his lips curved into a small smile. 

When Haise wakes up, he knows. 

He doesn't tell Nishiki. 

*

“I used to work in a coffee shop.” 

Haise smiles. “I love making coffee.” 

“You're shit at it.” Nishiki's eyes widen, slightly. So do Haise's, and they stare at each other for a moment, Nishiki challenging him to just ask. 

“Why don't you just tell me who I am, if you know?” Haise asks. 

Nishiki looks sad, suddenly. “Because I know who you were. This way, you've lost nothing.” 

“Then why do you keep talking to me?” Haise demands. 

Nishiki shrugs. “I don't know anyone else here. I'm bored.” 

It's not the truth, but Haise doesn't ask again, so Nishiki doesn't have to answer.


End file.
